Chapter 3 – Mahe’s Men
All the characters in this series are fictional. Any resemblance whatsoever is purely incidental/unintentional.
“Yes. I poisoned him. I had to. I didn’t have another option.”
Before I could respond he continued. “He is suffering from a rare kind of brain hemorrhage. Doctors have lost hope and have decided not to continue with treatment. They had asked his parents to keep him happy to the maximum extent. They had also warned them that his death would be extremely painful and it could happen any moment and all of a sudden. There is nothing that can stop his death being painful. It could be today, tomorrow or even this very moment. But he can continue with his day to day activities.”
“Then why did you poison him? At least he can live these few days in happiness.”
“Because his parents asked me to do so. They said they didn’t want to see him die painfully. They didn’t want to do the poisoning themselves. They just couldn’t do it. So they asked me to do it. “And he continued to sob until he could regain his composure. But he couldn’t.
“But why did you accept? It isn’t going to make it any better.”
“It’s just a matter of 4 to 5 hours before he sleeps in eternity. I can’t see him suffering from pain. So I agreed to do it.”
“I think you have made a mistake Vish. You shouldn’t have accepted. Anyways now that it is over and you’ve done it I think it’s time we pay him a visit.”
“No da I don’t think I can see him after what I’ve done.” Tears were rolling down his cheeks and he couldn’t control them. “That is why I let him bowl and wanted him to bat up the order. I knew he loved bowling. That is why I didn’t even mind losing the game. But…..trust me. I never knew he could bowl so well.”
“It’s ok Vish. Leave it. I’ll go to Sridhar’s place and keep you informed. How was he able to play so well when you had poisoned him? He showed no signs of distress.”
“The one I gave takes time; about a day to start functioning.”
“Alright. You take care of yourself. I’ll keep you posted.” And John left the place with a broken heart. He wouldn’t be able to see Sridhar anymore.
“This guy must be mad. Why did he have to accept that? Ridiculous!” he kept talking to himself as he kept driving.
John and Sridhar were quite close to each other. They always supported each other well and were quite good at providing an honest feedback to each other whenever required.
“But does Sridhar know about his sickness? Oh S**t. I hope not.!” Thinking about it he called Vishu to inquire about it. “Damn it, pick up the Goddamn phone Vish.” He kept cursing until the voice at the other end said “The person you have called is not accepting any calls at the moment. Please try again later. Thank You.”
“Damn it.” John was turning wild at the moment. He drove rashly and was over-speeding. He sent Vishu a message asking if Sridhar was aware of his sickness and the consequences.”
After driving for about 5 minutes his phone beeped and he saw a text message from Vishu. “No.”
“Thank God.” He thought. The traffic was too much and John wasn’t able to concentrate on his driving. Somehow he managed to reach Sridhar’s house. He barged inside the house and searched for him.
“Hi John. Long time no see.”
“Hey Suchi. How are you doing?”
“I’m ok. How are you?”
Suchitra sounded dull and her voice was feeble. John knew the reason but decided not to talk about it until she spoke about it herself.
“What happened Suchi? You don’t seem too good. Not well?”
“No. Am fine. Just that work pressure is too much.”
“No. There is something else and you are hiding it from me. I know you quite well Suchi. You can’t lie. Even if you do, like you’re doing now, it’s quite easy for me to find out.
John was quite close to Sridhar’s family and knew them right from his childhood. It was almost like a second home for him. Suchitra was Sridhar’s younger sister and was extremely fond of John. She called him ‘Anna’ (meaning elder brother) and shared almost every dark secret of her life with John. But of late, with both of them getting busy with their respective jobs they hadn’t got a chance to meet each other.
“Hmmm.” That was all Suchi could respond.
Now John was beginning to get irritated by Suchi’s blunt responses.
“What do you mean by this? Tell me something.”
“Ok. I will. Sridhar will not live long. You heard that? He is dying.”
Suchitra voice choked as she spoke and couldn’t talk anything further. She stood still trying to control the tears that were welling up in her sparkling blue eyes.
“I came to know of it only today.” she continued.” Mom and dad didn’t tell me about it until now.”
“What? Only today?”
“Yes.”
“Is Sridhar around?”
“Yes he is. He doesn’t know about it.”
“It is quite unbelievable that uncle and aunty have kept this thing away from me but not from Vishu.”
“Vishu? He knows about it? I thought only my parents knew of it? So that’s how you came to know.”
“Damn. What’s happening? You’re not aware of anything is it? Let me talk to your parents first. Where are they?”
Suchitra looked more than confused and led him to his parents’ room without talking anything more. Her crying had stopped and she was of the opinion that there was something fishy going on inside the house apart from Sridhar’s illness.
“Ma. John is here. He wants to ask you something.” She shouted from outside the room.
Sridhar’s parents were quite friendly with most of Sridhar’s friends. John especially, had always maintained good relations with them and was almost a second son to them.
“Hello John.” Sridhar’s mother said in a low tone as she opened the door. “What happened? You are here all of a sudden after such a long time.”
“Aunty, what’s going on here? I heard something from Vish. And now even Suchitra isn’t aware of that. Please tell me all that I am hearing is not true.”
John could see her bloodshot eyes welling up with tears. She desperately tried to control them trying not to breakdown in front of John.
“No son. Everything is true. If you are talking about the poisoning, yes you are absolutely right.”
“Now will you both please stop puzzling me with your riddles? Ma. Tell me what’s happening. I want to know what is going on right now.” Suchitra seemed lost and was completely enraged at being kept in the dark about what was happening. She threw her arms up in a fit of rage and demanded explanation from her mother. “What is going on mom? Tell me. I need to know everything right now.”
“I will tell you dear.” Her mother slowly said. But this time she could not control her tears. “Like I told you before, Sridhar is suffering from a rare kind of brain hemorrhage and chances of him surviving are extremely remote. But…..” and she stopped while talking. She wept bitterly as the flow of tears seemed to go on for an eternity.
She then regained her composure again and continued. “But when he dies, as the doctor says, it would be an extremely painful death. And he says it would not be another two days before he might sleep in peace; for good. I don’t want to see him suffer in pain. And that is why I asked Vishwanath to do it. I am sorry Suchitra. I am sorry John.”
She was inconsolable after she said it. She sat down on the floor crying like a small child craving for a piece of candy.
Suchitra also didn’t want to interrogate her further. She knew her mother wasn’t in a position to talk anymore. She guided her inside the room and gestured to John asking him to stay there. She helped her mother in a chair and came to John after locking the room.
“Please tell me John. What is it? What did mom ask Vish to do?” she asked John as they moved towards the living room.
“She asked Vish to poison your brother.”
“What?!” This is utter nonsense.” Saying so she charged towards her parents’ room again. John quickly ran behind her. He knew she was going to blast her parents for such an act.
“Hey Suchi stop.” He caught hold of her hand and signaled her to stop. “I will try and rescue Sridhar. He is my friend and I will not let him die just like that. He is a fighter and he won’t die without a fight. I will help him fight this.
“But you can’t do it John. Didn’t you hear what mom said? There is no way one can save him. Besides all that he has been poisoned. Even the slightest chances of him surviving are gone now.”
“Don’t worry Suchi. I will take care of it.”
John had no idea how he was going to help his friend live again, but somewhere in a remote corner of his brain it said he could.
“Where is Sridhar?” he asked her.
“Sleeping in his room.” She replied back.
“I’ll call my family doctor now. First things first. We’ll first try and take the poison off his body.”
Suchi nodded and started crying again. John signaled to her asking her not to cry but to no avail.
John took his mobile and started dialing Vish’s number. “Hey Vish. Tell me one thing. What exactly did you give Sridhar?”
“It’s just an overdose of sleeping pills.” And he mentioned the name of the drug.
“Thanks. We are going to try and get the poison out of his body once the doctor arrives here. We are giving one last try to save Sridhar.”
John could hear Vishu crying. “I am sorry John. I just obeyed orders. But I guess I shouldn’t have.”
“Will talk to you later Vish. The doctor has come. Bye.” John didn’t even wait for Vish’s reply before slamming the phone down. He was enraged at what he had done to one of his best friends but still had the patience to stay quiet and talk to him like nothing serious had happened.
“Hi John. “ the doctor had arrived and waved at John from his car.
“Hello doctor. This is Suchitra, Sridhar’s sister. Thank you very much for coming all the way doctor.”
“Hey come on man. My pleasure. So where is Sridhar?”
Dr.Sudhakar was Sridhar’s family doctor. He was also a good friend of John personally. They had gone out with their mutual friends for dinner and drinks on several occasions. Though John doesn’t drink, he always gave the doctor company whenever the doctor went for a booz.
“I’ll show you doctor.”Suchitra replied. She showed the way to Sridhar’s room and opened the door as John followed them. Sridhar was fast asleep and John was relieved to find him still breathing.
“Guys. I’ll take over from here. I’ll do my best in getting the poison out of his body. Till then please close the door and do not disturb.”
They both obeyed and returned to the living room. John had explained everything to Sudhakar over the phone while he requested him to come home. The doctor had immediately obliged.
The wait seemed an eternity. John kept thinking about the philosophies of life and the various moments he had spent with Sridhar. He spoke to Suchitra about her job and what she usually did during weekends to keep her distracted. She told him about her trip to Andaman and how she may have to cancel that for ‘obvious’ reasons.
They spoke for about an hour when they heard the sound of a door screeching. It was the doctor. Both of them ran towards the doctor who was just coming out of Sridhar’s room.
“How is he doctor?” Suchitra asked as both John and Suchi waited with bated breath for an answer from the doctor.
“I will tell you.” The doctor replied.
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